


Barbie Doll

by Anonymous



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: And they suck at it, Darcy Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Protective Pepper, Protective Tony, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Steve and Bucky are Darcy's soulmates, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony thinks so too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-10-03
Packaged: 2018-02-18 01:12:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2329808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>... it’s killing him, like literally, watching the vivacious woman lose herself to the belief that she’s not good enough.</p><p>And fuck, fuck is Darcy good enough.</p><p>(A series of one-shots and drabbles based on <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2059584/chapters/4475136">are you the one?</a>  following this what-if scenario: Darcy <i>had</i> gone to Tony and Pepper instead of giving Steve and Bucky another chance)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [are you the one? (yep, that was me)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2059584) by [ErisDea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErisDea/pseuds/ErisDea). 



Tony notices her tears first.

 

Tears are not something he’s comfortable with, from fucking anyone, but on the face of Darcy Lewis they’re like a punch to the chest that knocks out his breath.

 

He makes a habit out of not lying; he’s noticed the quick disintegration of Darcy’s quirky personality since she latched into a relationship with what society has deemed as “soul-mates”. He’s noticed the lack of smiles, the fading of her fan-fucking-tastic confidence, the shadows under her eyes from strenuous training and the weight that’s melted away under the care of nutritious drinks and no affection. Pepper has kept him from speaking up, though God (and Tony) knows she wants to eviscerate Barnes and Rogers as badly as he does, but it … it’s killing him, like _literally,_ watching the vivacious woman lose herself to the belief that she’s not good enough.

 

(And fuck, fuck is Darcy good enough. Yes, she’s beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous with her breasts and curves and wicked, painted mouth. Pepper whispers about her in bed as he fucks her, and he returns the fantasies as he brings her off – there’s no denying the temptation of her body. But Tony loves being around her for more than just looking; loves her lack of filter and disregard for social norms (formal dress code means _nothing_ , it’s great). Loves how her soft-science degree doesn’t keep her from knowing about his work, how she twists words to make jokes that poke and tease but don’t sting. _Hatesthemfortryingtotakethataway)._

 

Darcy’s standing against the glass of the workshop windows, and he notices her tears first. Then the shaking of her shoulders under her hefty sweater, the utterly defeated look in her eyes (where are her glasses?), the hesitation to come in when _before_ she would have just busted in, no cares and all words.

 

“Jarvis,” he barks, already moving, watches as Darcy jumps when the door slides open, blue eyes moving to his, wide.

 

“C’mere,” he demands gruffly, pulls her against his chest before either of them can think enough about it to _not do that, ew, emotions,_ wraps her as close as possible until his body aches from the effort and he wonders if hers does to. “You’re wanted kid, ok? Pepper and I would tie you down and fuck you all night every night if you’d let us. But we’ll settle for having you around, friends or … whatever shit it is people do these days.” He plays it off light.

 

“…or both?”

 

It’s quiet, muffled against his shoulder, tentative but definitely there. Tony smirks.

 

“Definitely both.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

It’s the first time.

 

Darcy is nervous.

 

Pepper and Tony are attentive.

 

They’re combing promises through her hair, kissing prayers onto her skin, whispering dirty phrases into her ears like universal secrets. They’re everywhere, pressed to her back and buried between her breasts, fire and coal tracking down her sides and over her thighs.

 

Their hands shy from nothing.

 

Tony grips her chin carefully, forces her eyes to lock with his as he pushes two fingers inside of her. She gasps at burning stretch and he sucks it in with a smirk, his lips barely touching hers as he begins slow, purposeful movements.

 

Pepper is cool, sated support against her back, long smooth fingers trailing down her neck and over her breasts to tease her nipples, holding them in place for Tony’s wandering, curious tongue.

 

“You’re beautiful,” the older woman breathes, nipping playfully at her ear, nuzzling into her hair. Tony’s fingers curve upward and she whines, arching in a way that makes Pepper hiss. “ _Darcy_.”

 

“Perfect,” Tony growls, finding the spongy spot inside of her and tapping firmly. “What god _made you_ , Lewis?”

 

Darcy bites her lip, whether to stop words or stop noise she doesn’t know. She wants them to _fuck her_ , to be hard and fast and demanding, to use her for satisfaction ( _stop fucking talking to me_ ), but their touches, while arousing, while intent, remain gentle, reverent.

 

Pepper’s breath is hot on her neck as the redhead softly bites and sucks at the curve of her neck, her tiny hands dipping down to grip her ass and hold. Tony’s panting puffs are breezes against her faces as he presses slightly desperate kisses against her cheeks, her forehead, her nose.

 

She rolls her hips, forward, back, stuck in between and breathing them both.

 

 “Will you come?” Pepper inquires, light and fond. She sounds like she’s smiling. “Look at Tony, Darcy. Will you come?”

 

Darcy looks. The billionaire’s coffee eyes are dilated, hungry, but he’s still smiling down at her, still _thrusting his fingers inside of her-_

 

“Do you want to, gorgeous?” He teases, twisting his fingers and sending her sight into stars. “Again and again and again and again-.”

 

Pepper bites harder, and Darcy sees white.

 

(Neither of them fuck her that night, not in the way she’s used to, not in the way she had expected. Pepper rides Tony and they both hold Darcy’s hand the entire time in a manner that doesn’t feel forced, and after Tony cradles her against his chest and tickles her ribs as Pepper slithers down between her legs with her own sly smile and it happens all over again).

 

It’s hours later, sated in satin sheets and tangled between the world’s most powerful couple that she feels the beginning stabs of guilt and inklings of sorrow that the bodies she’s naked against are not Steve and James, that the words on her body are not Tony and Pepper’s words, that her soulmates don’t _know_ where she is right now, don’t know what she’s doing, _don’t know that anything is wrong_.

 

“I’m thinking pizza and Paris,” Tony speaks up suddenly, a spark igniting their calm. Darcy twitches, surprised, but Pepper just snorts, fingernails dragging across Darcy’s collarbone and dragging up shivers.

 

“Pizza, yes,” the woman intones dryly. “But no Paris. We’re staying in the country until Christmas, Tony. Remember?”

 

“Ugh. Fine. Malibu, then. We can do Malibu, right?”

 

“Malibu is acceptable. I can easily work from my office in the mansion. Darcy? How do you feel about Malibu?”

 

“I’ve…never been.” Tony’s sudden triumphant clap makes her jump.

 

“Settled. Malibu it is then.”

 

“A business trip,” Pepper is quick to add, fingers moving to pull Darcy’s sweaty bangs from her eyes. She risks a glance at the other woman; there’s no expectations, nothing but an understanding smile staring back. “They won’t argue.”

 

“Not like it would matter,” Tony grumps. He rolls over, pushing Darcy further into Pepper’s hold as he sneaks an arm around her. “But that’s another time. So, pizza. Yes, Pepper, your unimaginative cheese. Italian, Lewis? I want Hawaiian.”

 

“I can’t…” Darcy starts to protest, but trails off, sucking in her bottom lip to take in her words. Pepper’s rhythmic touching stills, but Tony’s arm tightens, his own fingers pressing into the soft pudge of her stomach that James had pointed out the other day with nothing more than a glance of his eyes. She flinches, minutely, but of course they both catch it, and Pepper begins moving again and Tony’s hand slowly travels up her stomach and down again, dragging over the excess as if it’s nothing.

 

“Darcy. You don’t have to,” Pepper whispers kindly, brushing a kiss to her temple.

 

“But you can,” Tony adds with finality, hand passing over her flank. “If you want. It’s okay, kid.”

 

Darcy doesn’t reply and they don’t really wait for her to. Instead they revert back to tender touches and light kisses, mapping every inch of her skin without hunger, without criticism, without reason, breaths of promises in every kiss and touch as she burrows into them and they pull in closer.

 

She feels fucking _worshipped._

 

It hurts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _...Darcywantedamomenttoookay?_ **what did I do?**


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

The next morning should be awkward.

 

Tony wakes from streaming sunlight and to the sensation of two other bodies breathing for him instead of one. His fingers flex on instinct, tips pressing gently into smooth, unfamiliar skin that definitely doesn’t belong to Pepper but still feels exceedingly pleasant. His eyes crack open in tight protest, because _morning,_ that stutters to silence when he sees them.

 

Darcy is curled in toward him, cheek resting on the back of her hand, breath tickling his shoulder with each exhale under the tangled scent of morning and last night’s pizza. She’s trapped under the thick white duvet they had wrapped her in after she had fallen asleep, her naked shoulders peeking out in warm comfort – a slim hand is loosely twister in her mass of raven hair, and his eyes trail over to Pepper’s slumbering form, his own lips twitching at the sight of the small, pleased smile on her face.

 

_Lucky, lucky, lucky._

 

He slides out of bed with stealth born of practice and not talent, huffing a chuckle at the frown that springs up on Lewis’ face from the sudden lack of warmth. She turns over into Pepper’s hold and his girlfriend is quick to accept her, their limbs tangling together in sleep as the youngest settles again. He can see a glimpse of one of her soulmarks scrawled across her back and looks away.

 

(Darcy’s eyes last night as he had fucked her with his fingers, when he had forced her to look at him, when Pepper had whispered to her, when she had come the first time, when he had held her after, when Pepper had licked into her; she had trembled on her second climax, held in her noises until they had to hiss out, had watched him with wonderment, touched Pepper with hesitance, had smiled for all of point-ten-seconds _fuck)._

 

Three large pizza boxes rest innocently on the floor – his Hawaiian is completely gone (it was delicious and he regrets nothing), Pepper’s cheese is half demolished (her gleaming smile and exaggerated moans of pleasure as she bit into it piece by piece had sparked another minor round of awesomeness), and Darcy’s Italian … only one piece is gone, the crust of it resting in its place like a grave marker, edges still dotted guiltily with the remains of sauce (she had nibbled while they had inhaled, uncertain and fuck, too much, his fault).

 

He slithers into last night’s discarded boxers, yanking a shirt over his head before scooping up the three boxes. He casts another look toward the bed; Pepper’s moved a little so that Darcy’s head is tucked under her chin, their hair tangling together in aesthetic contrast that almost had him crawling back into bed and biting at their bodies until they woke up. But he’s a responsible adult, the pizza is starting to smell, and Pepper at least will pout if hers goes bad before she can snag a slice for breakfast.

 

He closes the door to the sight of them.

 

Steve’s in the communal kitchen with Bruce, because of course he is, it’s only seven in the morning, why not? Neither of them are talking, sharing a silence that only Tony notes the awkwardness of as he beelines for the fridge. His presence breaks the quiet, though, when Steve’s head shoots up and his eyes narrow at the sight of the boxes.

 

“Is that Italian?” The super soldier questions, head tilted. Tony slants him a look, taking in the uncertain expressions that faintly mirrors Darcy’s own, and snorts.

 

“Um, yes? Pepper and I got hungry last night, thought I’d try something new along with my Hawaiian. ‘S’not bad. Why? Want a slice, Capsicle?” Which isn’t going to happen, because it’s _Darcy’s pizza._

 

“No, thank you, Tony. Just …” He visibly swallows. “Just make sure you keep it away from Darcy, alright? She’s already struggling with her diet, she doesn’t need the temptation.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what she needs.” Tony says the words before he thinks on them, wincing when Bruce whips him glance.

 

Steve levels him with a hard stare. “Do _not_ give Darcy a hard time about this, Stark.”

 

Because you haven’t given her enough of one already?

 

“I’m an ass, not a dick, Rogers,” he snaps back. “Shouldn’t you be on a run or something equally ridiculous with your other soulmate or something? You know, the one you actually like?”

For a second, Tony thinks he’s honestly going to get punched in the face by Captain America. It would be something, would probably hurt like hell, but he’s a little ready for it, wants a reason, an excuse because _she had looked so surprised_. But the man, fists clenched in contained fury, simply turns sharply on his heel and stalks from the kitchen, not a word said as he disappears.

 

“You’re right,” Bruce says after JARVIS quietly confirms Steve is heading back to his own floor. He looks completely at ease despite the almost-confrontation, a slight smirk on his face as he sips at his tea. “Maybe it _is_ exactly what Darcy needs.”

 

Tony shoves the boxes into the refrigerator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess there are going to be more pieces to this.


	4. Chapter 4

Pepper wakes up with the slow laziness born of Sunday mornings, and the twist of black hair curled around her arm is significantly longer than it normally is.

 

_(Uncertain movements and the ribs that show if Darcy moves just right and quiet reverence and Tony's undivided attention. Pizza and sweat and Tony's laughing kisses and Darcy whimpering against Pepper's tongue and talking, talking before and after and unfalling tears and a steely resolve not even silent in sleep-)_

 

In sleep, Tony holds to her like a lifeline he needs to protect; Darcy buries into her for shelter.

 

It would be endearing if she was a puppy and not a human being.

 

Pepper likes Darcy – she likes the way she looks in her glasses and large earth-tone sweaters, likes the pale softness of her skin, likes the way the sun glints on her hair when it beams through a window she stands next to, likes how her clothing choices don’t quite manage to hide her curves. But she also _likes_ Darcy. She _likes_ her task-oriented mind, _likes_ her no-nonsense approach to Bruce and Jane and Tony with their science, _likes_ how her laughter isn’t restrained and how her half-sincere apologies for social faux paus come like an afterthought, _likes_ her formidable competence. And she _likes_ how Darcy can make her smile just by doing nothing at all.

 

_Likes_ how she makes **Tony** smile.

 

Tony forgets people. It’s an inconvenience they can thankfully write off to the general public as an eccentric quirk, but it’s still real, and every time Pepper sees his eyes flash in dismissal at meeting a new person it breaks her heart. He forgets people because he doesn’t like them, doesn’t trust them, but he had remembered Darcy’s name three days after her arrival when they had smacked into each other in the kitchen, again two days later in the common room, and when it had taken a week and a half for him to call her “kid” instead of “Lewis”, Pepper had known the younger woman was special.

 

Special enough that she – _they_ should have lost her in a snap to _Captain America_ and _the Winter Soldier_.

 

Instead Darcy is naked in Pepper’s arms, the scent of sex faint but still in the air, on a Sunday morning.

 

It’s exactly what Pepper wants, this.

 

She’s just not sure it’s what _Darcy_ really wants.

 

Her fingers tangle in black strands thoughtfully as the bedroom door creaks open, Tony’s dark head popping through with its usual curious expression, tinged with a touch of maturity when his eyes fall on Darcy’s sleeping form. He comes in, shutting the door quietly behind him, and Pepper hums as he carefully slides back in with them.

 

She doesn’t know if this is what Darcy wants – _will_ want, when she’s had time away from Steve and Bucky and time with them instead to consider.

 

But Pepper is determined that she’ll get the time to figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _OkaysoPepper_


	5. Chapter 5

 

She opens her eyes, and it’s not to Steve or Bucky or to their sheets or their bed or even to the sun.

 

She’s alone, the windows dimmed to near opaque, in a bed that makes her body tingle in embarrassing (pleasant) places and foggy memories push at her mind. Her head lacks the pounding of alcohol, and without it she’s not prone to making bad decisions, but there’s a first time for everything and lately … lately she’s been considering some first times-

 

_(“Tonight.” James nips at her neck.)_

 

 _(“Darcy.” Tony’s lips are soft against hers, a mere brush where a kiss only looms._ _“Kid, come over tonight. Just once, just this time. Let Pepper and I spoil you. Sex, cuddling, more sex. We’ll still respect you in the morning.” He smiles and she laughs.)_

 

Darcy chokes on her next inhale as she shoots up, surprised. “JARVIS?” Pepper’s tongue and Tony’s fingers and being held-

 

“Miss Darcy.” The AI’s voice is as smooth and calm as ever. “It is ten-thirteen am, and you are in the Tower’s master suite.”

 

“Alone?” She doesn’t actually mean to say it.

 

_(“Please, doll.” Steve strains under her hand. “Do it. Please do it.”)_

 

_(“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Darcy.” Pepper’s breath is hot on her ear. “Tell us when to stop.” Darcy turns her head and kisses her.)_

 

“I believe they did not wish to crowd you,” JARVIS replies softly. “Miss Potts is in the shower two floors down, and Master Stark is-.”

 

“Here.” Darcy jerks around at the sound of Tony’s voice, hair smacking her in the face as she watches the billionaire saunter into the room. He’s dressed in a black shirt with a faded Black Sabbath insignia and greased up jeans and she can remember what he looks like underneath. “Really, JARVIS, “the Tower’s master suite”? No. _My_ master suite. _Tony Stark’s_ master suite. This is not open to just anyone. It’s dark in here. Why is it so dark in here? Morning, JARVIS? Sun time.”

 

“My apologies, sir.” The shade on the windows doesn’t lift.

 

_(James buries his face between her breasts as Steve moves teasingly inside of her.)_

 

_(“Keep your bra on, if you want.” Tony’s shoulders shrug under her hands at her dismissing question. Pepper’s fingers scratch her scalp. “There’s still plenty more to look at.” She bites her lip, her body flushing, and he grins wickedly. “Like that.”)_

 

“Hey.” Darcy blinks; Tony’s directly in her face, his finger still on her nose from where he had tapped her, bringing her back. He’s not looking at her with the hunger from last night but his eyes are still the same, more brown than black and still studying her with the same intense focus. “Pepper, uh … hell, _we_ didn’t want to overwhelm you this morning, still being here. In case you didn’t, uh … you agreed to one night.”

 

One night. One night with Tony and Pepper and **not** with Steve and James.

 

_(“Darcy Lynn,” her mother tells her sternly over the dinner table when she mentions that Elizabeth West from Social Studies is really pretty. “Ain’t no one ever going to want you but your soulmates.”)_

 

She swallows, and fuck, those are tears in the back of her throat. Her stomach growls and she ignores it; she ate late, she can wait for lunch.

 

“Kid?” Tony’s frowning. “Hey.” He touches her shoulder tentatively, grip becoming firm when she doesn’t pull back. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Darcy. Alright? _You_ did _nothing wrong._ ” Whether he pulls her into him, then, or she falls in and he catches her, Darcy doesn’t know, doesn’t particularly care. Tony is a warm, breathing body against her, holding her just to hold her, and later he’ll probably be squirrely and annoyed because these are **feelings** (ugh), but right now… it’s nice.

 

She tries not to picture Steve’s wounded big blue eyes or James’ shuttered expressions.

 

_‘I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong.’_

 

“I have to tell them about my business trip,” she finally says against his shoulder, without thinking. Oops. “Um, if there is still a trip?”

 

Tony shuffles closer against her, pushes his forehead against the top of her and sighs deeply. “There’s _always_ a trip.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go. ;)


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

Tony’s fingers trip over the wires of _something_ on the table, lost as his thoughts skitter from the project to elsewhere.

 

It’s not bothering him. He’s not nervous.

 

He just doesn’t want to see her come back with that same defeated expression.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Pepper cards her fingers through the gleaming strands of her wet hair and stares out the window at Manhattan’s morning landscape.

 

“Let me know when she gets there, please, JARVIS,” she requests quietly. Under the loose cotton of her white robe, bumps of chill prickle across her damp skin, and in the privacy of the room, she shivers.

 

“Of course, Miss Potts.”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy loves them.

 

She loves the way Steve’s lips always quirk upward before splitting into his beaming smiles, how his laughs are always barks of surprise at his own amusement. She loves the tickle on the back of her neck when James is watching her (loves how he watches them both), loves his own raspy chuckle when they catch him at it. She loves how brilliant they are, how down to Earth and yet so high up, loves their humor and morality, their honor and their doubt.

 

She doesn’t know James’ favorite flavor or the name of Steve’s mom.

 

She doesn’t know if either of them like the scent of rain or if they prefer winter to summer; if they could stand going for walks instead of runs or if they would want a dog.

 

Doesn’t know if they like movies, what books they read, what music they like, _when their birthdays are._

She loves them, loves them so much that the thought of being away from them _hurts,_ but she doesn’t know them.

 

(It’s a knife and her chest is full of the wounds of repeated stabs.)

 

She’s as much at fault as they are for this mess, their unhappiness. They hadn’t pushed for more and she hadn’t, either. She hadn’t spoken up at all.

 

_(Tony’s fingers in her hair, “You did nothing wrong.”)_

Sleeping with someone else while in a relationship with your _soulmates_ is cheating, is wrong.

 

Standing outside the door of the suite you share with them for three minutes because you’re unsure if you should knock or just go in is probably not exactly right, either.

 

_(“You did nothing wrong.”)_

She twists the handle and the cold metal submits under her hand with a pleasant releasing click, as it had been waiting for her the entire time.

 

* * *

 

 

Part of Pepper still wants to fix this for Darcy, give the younger woman the happy-ever-after she desperately wants.

 

“Miss Lewis has arrived, ma’am.”

 

She has seen the devastation of second chances on people desperate for them.

 

“Send the text, please.”

 

* * *

 

 

Tony doesn’t notice the motor oil Dummy adds to the pot of coffee, or flinch when Butterfingers accidentally sends it crashing to the floor.

 

She hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

He’s not nervous.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy finds them in bed, naked and sated and lazy in the sun’s morning streaming; Steve’s face flushes and James’ eyes trail over her body with no expression at all. They don’t really shift in invitation to join them – Steve twitches as if he wants to, but only ends up moving closer to the other man.

 

“Morning, sweetheart,” the blonde tries, voice a little funny as he stares at guiltily. (Guilt. As if he should feel guilty for sleeping with one lover while the other was away (fucking different people).).

 

There’s a twinge of pain, a twinge that’s more of a cut, a cut that’s more of a punch as she sees James’ fingers trail over Steve’s arm from the corner of her eye and he hasn’t touched her in _days_ but Pepper and Tony _had_ her in bed all night and remembers _exactly_ how they feel and why is it so damned _cold_ in this room-

 

“Doll?” James now, eyes narrowed a little as he studies her because she’s being quiet.

 

The smile she plasters on her face when she tells them she’s going with Pepper and Tony to Malibu for business is straining, the muscles protesting, and is cut short when their phones chirp at the same time with a message from Pepper verifying the and offering details. She slumps with their attention on their screens.

 

_I didn’t do anything wrong._

She wants to break at Steve’s genuine excitement for the opportunity she’s getting.

 

When James steps out of the bed with the intention of drawing up a training regimen she can follow on her own, not even touching her in greeting despite the night apart, she thinks she honestly might.

 

She had to have done something wrong, somewhere.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy is beautiful and kind and stunning.

 

“Thank you, JARVIS.”

 

Pepper feels no remorse.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“J, forward all open projects to the mansion’s mainframe, and make sure the kids get charged up.”

 

“Of course, sir.”

 

Jittery, Tony heads for the elevator.

 

* * *

 

Sleeping with someone while in a relationship with someone else is cheating.

 

Sleeping with someone else while in a relationship with your _soulmates_ is worse than sin.

 

Darcy walks toward Tony and Pepper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now wouldja look at _that?_ **Finished**. With no confrontation or resolution of any sort and no real closure in sight.
> 
> ...
> 
> There's going to be a sequel and you're all invited.
> 
> Edit: [Here is your direct-link invite](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2412824/chapters/5337110)

**Author's Note:**

> _canIhelphowawesome"are you the one? (yep, that was me)" is?no.noicannot. go read it now._
> 
>  
> 
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> 
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> 
>  


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